RIP Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd

[Peter Presland]

It's Grauniad-speak, M., for "this man was a paranoid nut who deserved his fate." All part of the paper's richly ethical approach to world history, and the ideological policing of what's left of the British Left.

That London was among the most paranoid capitals in the world in the late 1960s - you may recall the small matter of the attempted coup "of all the talents" (1968) against our then-PM, Harold Wilson - and Dee entirely correct when he insisted that his phone was bugged, is of no consequence or interest to the voice of Britain's progressives.

Robin Ramsey's 'Lobster Magazine' is a good source for historical info about post WW2 spook influence and activities in the UK. He does seem to retain a residual faith in our system of party politics and the potential of direct action etc to change it for the better. That said his stuff connects dots and establishes some surprising and revealing links between ostensibly left-wing organisation personalities and leaders on the one hand and the SIS's on the other.

Here are two articles available without subscription from his web site. Too long to post in full and I don't want to breach his Copyright either, but worth a look:

1. Getting it right: The Security Agencies in Modern Society
2. The influence of intelligence services on the British left

The second takes a good look at the Harold Wilson surveillance episode which did eventually cause some minor waves which the SIS's batted away easily with agreement to the so-called 'Wilson Doctrine', a protocol governing elected MP's and the SIS's. It reared its head again recently over the alleged bugging of an MP's visit to Babar Ahmad whilst on remand (5 years and counting and a bloody outrage in itself) pending extradition to the US.

BTW - High Paul - good to have you back.